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The Ambassador

The Ambassador of Italy Giuseppina Zarra

She joined the Italian Diplomatic Service in March 1991, after being graduated in Political Science and International Relations with full marks and honors, and two essays in Public Finance and International law.

Professional Experience

Since January 2021, Italian Ambassador to Bulgaria.

November 2019-December 2020, National Coordinator for the EU Macrostrategy for the Alpine Region and member of all the Intergovernmental Commissions on Trans Alpine connections and EU TEN-T Corridors.

July 2018-August 2019 Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister for European Affairs.

September 2015-July 2018 Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

2010-2015 Head of the Multilateral Desk at the Directorate General for Global Affairs, and since 2013 Deputy Central Director. In this function, she was responsible for coordination and participation in multilateral negotiations within international organizations, including the OECD, the WTO, the UNCTAD, the ICAO, the IMO and the ESA. She was also responsible for the WG5 of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Somali coast, for the fight against illicit financial flows linked to piracy.

2006-2009 First Counselor at the Italian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, responsible for peacekeeping and peacebuilding. In this capacity, she followed the negotiations leading to the Italian participation in Unifil 2 in Southern Lebanon and the establishment of the Strategic Military Cell at the DPKO. She was member of the Italian delegation to the Security Council in 2007-2008, responsible for peacekeeping operations and represented Italy at the UN Peacebuilding Commission.

2002-2006 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Head of the multilateral financial desk at the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Cooperation, responsible for foreign debt negotiations and export credit; she was in charge of multilateral negotiations at the Paris Club on foreign debt restructuring.

1998-2002 Embassy of Italy in Ottawa, Canada, Counselor for political affairs and press relations, responsible also for the coordination of the Italian Cultural Institutes in Canada.

1994-1998 Italian Embassy in Sofia, First Secretary, responsible for the economic sector, bilateral trade relations and the consular sector.

1993-1994 Directorate General for Economic Affairs, Desk for Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf.

1991-1993 Protocol department.

Foreign languages: She is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Bulgarian.

Merits: Knight Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic